(Image from Barnes & Noble)

After nine years of dealing with infertility, 33-year-old Susan Weller and her husband, Brent, finally get the baby they've been dreaming of for so long. Adopting Anna, an infant whose birth parents died in a car accident, replaces the cruel emptiness in Susan's heart with a joy she's never known. Not only is her daughter perfect in every way—healthy, smart, beautiful, happy—but she's actually more than that. She's ... special. Like an angel. She's got an otherworldly quality about her, something that's difficult to understand, let alone describe. It just seems that when Anna enters a room, it becomes instantly brighter. When she's present, people are nicer, teachers are more effective, and the world at large seems a kinder, happier place.

Susan's astounded by Anna's abilities. She knows she has to protect Anna—if anyone knew about the girl's extraordinary gift, they would want to study her, exploit her. Susan can't let that happen. But, the older Anna gets, the harder it becomes to explain why she's so different. Especially to Anna herself. Torn between trying to keep her daughter safe and letting her use her special talents to help those around her, Susan must decide where to draw the line.

Ugh. Describing the plot of Gifted by Karey White is difficult because, really, it has none. It's simply the tale of a child who changes everyone who comes in contact with her. The premise isn't bad at all, it's just not developed well enough to make a compelling novel. Add in flat characters, a meandering storyline and the author's preference for telling vs. showing and the book just doesn't stand a chance. Which is a bummer because the cover really speaks to me—unfortunately, it's the only thing about Gifted that does.

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note: Although this review will not contain any spoilers for The Hero of Ages, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from its predecessors. As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

There's not a lot more to say except that I love the Mistborn series. The first two books enthralled me, as did the third. The world Sanderson creates in the series is so complex, so detailed and so utterly compelling that it's difficult not to get lost in it. Like the novels that came before it, The Hero of Ages offers a little bit of everything—adventure, romance, mystery, fantasy, etc. There's so much going on in the book that it never gets boring. And that's saying a lot for a 724-page novel. The bottom line is this: Sanderson is a master storyteller, absolutely in a class by himself. Anything the man writes, I will read. Amen.

(Readalikes: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension and The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson)

Grade: A

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs) and violence/gore

To the FTC, with love: I bought The Hero of Ages from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note: While this review will not contain spoilers for Miles to Go, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from The Walk. As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

After losing his wife, then his business, house, cars and all the other fancy trappings of his formerly successful life, Alan Christoffersen decides to outwalk his grief by hoofing it from his home near Seattle to the beach in Key West, Florida. He's made it to the outskirts of Spokane, Washington—only about 318 miles from home—when he's mugged by a group of teenage thugs. Too injured to resume his journey right away, Alan decides to hunker down in Spokane until he's recovered enough to resume his trek.

Alan's taken in by a kind stranger named Angel, who offers him room and board for as long as he needs it. Although the woman lives up to her name in every way, Alan becomes concerned about the dark depression that settles over her with disturbing frequency. After some strange encounters, Alan realizes how little he actually knows about Angel. It's clear she needs help, but are her problems too big for him to handle? Especially when he's still dealing with his own issues? As Alan tries to figure out what to do about Angel, he also has to make another decision: should he continue with his long walk or stay in Spokane with the people who are fast starting to feel like family.

Since The Walk by Richard Paul Evans failed to impress me, I didn't have a lot of hope for its sequel, Miles to Go. I figured the same things that bugged me about the former would probably bug me about the latter and I was right. Evans' writing was still more tell than show, more sap than substance. His characters remained flat, their relationships so underdeveloped they never felt real. Because of the mysterious Angel, the first half (or so) of the book at least had enough action to be somewhat interesting. Not so for the rest of the novel. All in all, I liked Miles to Go a teensy bit more than The Walk, but, truthfully, I really wasn't wild about either. I've said it before and I'll say it again, inspirational fiction is just not my genre. I want a story, not a sermon.